Lean on Me
by frenchienumber3
Summary: Deadliest Catch! Edgar's wife died, leaving him with his teenage daughter Riley. The two of them go on as if nothing has happened and they never talk about the past. Is this keeping Riley from being able to move on?


**Lean on Me**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing! :)**

Okay, so it's been a really long time since I've written anything on here, and I haven't even updated recently, so this is the beginning of a bunch of updates!

This is a new story that I had an idea for, and the plot is still developing, but just let me know if you like it, and if you do, i'll most likely continue it!

Have fun! haha jk 3

* * *

**CHAPTER 1 **

Riley walked down the docks of Dutch Harbor, wearing only a grey pair of sweatpants, a black Dutch Harbor long sleeve t-shirt, and black converse. She had her iPod in hand and the ear buds in her ears, the volume turned up to maximum volume. She passed by the Time Bandit, and soon after, she passed the Cornelia Marie. But she didn't pass the Northwestern, instead, she gracefully hoped over onto its deck.

The men that were working glanced in her direction, but said nothing. They all continued to work as if a girl on their boat was the most normal thing in the world. Riley gently stepped up the stairs to the wheelhouse and opened the door. Sig turned around to glare at the person that had walked in, but softened when he saw her. Riley took both headphones out and smiled,

"Hey Uncle Sig." she said. Sig chuckled and reached out, messing up he long blonde hair that fell to the middle of her back. Riley scowled and reached up, ruffling her bangs back into place, slightly falling into her bright blue eyes. Sig rolled his eyes,

"Where's your dad?" Riley shrugged,

"Bringing up the bags I think, I'm not his keeper." She replied.

"He's late." Sig said, turning back to what he had been working on. Riley walked over to the far chair, sitting in it and propping her feet up on the dash. Sig looked at her and raised an eyebrow,

"It's like you were raised by men…don't you ever sit like a lady?...cross your legs?" he asked. Riley shot him a look,

"First off, this is just more comfortable, and second, technically, I was raised by men." She said. Sig shook his head and looked down at the video screen to see what the guys were doing.

"When you walked up, did it look like they were doing what they were supposed to be doing?" he asked. Riley shrugged,

"I don't know, you're the captain." She replied, smirking at him.

"Oh look, here comes your father, maybe he'll be able to keep you away from me." Sig said, smirking right back. Riley smiled and turned towards the door as her dad walked in with the bags.

"Will you take these down Riley, I need to get started down there, since I'm late." He said, directing the last half towards her. Riley scowled,

"It's totally not my fault that you're late!" she exclaimed, standing up from the chair and grabbing the bags from his hands.

"Says the girl who couldn't leave until she went to her boyfriends house to say goodbye." Edgar said, rolling his eyes. Riley frowned,

"For your information, I didn't say goodbye to him. I broke up with him." She stated. Edgars features softened,

"Why…what happened?" he asked softly. Riley shook her head,

"It's nothing, you don't have to worry about it. It was going to happen sooner or later." She said.

"Are you okay?" Edgar asked. Riley smiled,

"Yeah dad, I'm fine, go work." She said. Sig smiled from where he sat at the captain's chair. He loved the way that the two of them interacted. It had been almost two years since the accident that had taken away Edgars wife and Riley's mother. How they had managed to keep things together was beyond him. But nevertheless, he was proud of the two of them.

"Alright, where are we at?" Edgar asked. Sig snapped out of his thoughts and turned towards his brother,

"From what I've seen, the boys are getting ready to bring the bait on board, and then finish putting the last of the pots on." Edgar nodded and rubbed his hands together.

"When she's done down there, send her out on deck." Sig nodded and turned back to the paperwork, hearing the deck door close behind Edgar. He could hear Riley downstairs, probably struggling to stuff both of the bags into a corner or underneath a bunk. He smiled as he heard her curse under her breath.

"You know," Riley said, appearing at the top of the stairs, "your sleeping areas for the crew suck." She said. Sig chuckled,

"I don't know what you're talking about, mine is just fine." He said.

"Yeah? Well, I call dibs when you're not sleeping." She said, leaning against the back of his chair, resting her chin on his shoulder. Sig turned his head and glanced at her,

"Your dad wanted you down on deck when you were done with the bags." Riley rolled her eyes and started heading for the door,

"You may have changed the subject, but I'm still taking the bed!" she called over her shoulder. Sig smiled and shook his head, that girl was really something.

* * *

"Alright daddy dearest, what do you need me for?" she asked from the upper deck level next to the wheelhouse door. Edgar looked up,

"I need you to stand in the freezer and stack the boxes of bait. You're smaller, so it's easier for you to maneuver in there." Riley nodded and hopped down the stairs. Edgar came up to her and dragged her with him to the hydraulics station. She looked at him questioningly. " I don't want you anywhere under the crane when I bring the bait stacks on board." He said, answering her unspoken question. She nodded, understanding his need for her to be safe. The first time that Edgar had brought her with them after her mom had died, he had given her a speech about how much he loved her and how he couldn't lose her too. It was then followed by a three hour safety lesson given by him and Matt. Riley had countered by saying that she'd be safe, as long as he'd be safe too. Edgar had said no promises.

Riley patiently waited while her dad and the rest of the crew got all the stacks on board.

"Alright kid, go work your magic." Edgar said, pushing her towards the bait area. Riley walked over to Matt how handed her the first box as she walked into the freezer. She bent down and set it in the far back corner. Matt tossed her box after box, the process going slow at first, but they soon fell into a rhythm and within the hour, they had successfully stored all the bait. Edgar came over and nodded at them.

"Alright, Matt, I need you to stay and help with the rest of the pots, Riley, your sentence to the wheelhouse has officially begun." Riley rolled her eyes, but followed his command. When it came to going fishing, her dad was the boss. Once the season started, he wasn't Riley's dad, he was her boss, just an acquaintance. Family was thrown out the window. But Riley understood. This was her dad's life, this was how he provided for what was left of his family, and she was used to always coming second.

Riley slowly walked up the stairs and into the wheelhouse, "Guess what?" she said. Sig looked at her hesitantly,

"Has it started?" he asked. She smiled and nodded,

"You are now officially stuck with me. How does it feel?" she asked. Sig shook his head,

"I'm gonna need more cigarettes." He said. Riley laughed,

"But you won't need as much coffee, because I'm pretty sure my incessant talking will keep you awake just fine." She said, smiling. Sig groaned,

"There's only so much girl talk I can take…maybe that's why I decided to fish so many months in the year, to escape the girl talk at home." He said. Riley sighed,

"At least you GET girl talk at home." She said. Sig glanced at her, his joking mood set aside,

"You know, June said you're always welcome to come over if you ever need to talk." Riley shook her head,

"No, no, no, I'm fine. I really don't need it. I like the way dad does things at home." Sig raised his eyebrow,

"Really?" he asked, doubtful. Riley smiled and looked at him,

"95% of the time." She said. Sig chuckled and turned back to his work. Riley took this as his way of saying that he was done talking for now, so she decided to head on downstairs to the galley. She went into her dad's stateroom and flopped down on his bed, staring at the bottom of the bunk above her. For the first time in a while, she realized how tired she was. Ever since her mom had died, her sleeping patterns had been way off. She had trouble sleeping at night, and often found herself staying up for days at a time. Sometimes she would catch a few minutes when she was supposed to be doing schoolwork of when she came home after working with her dad. But most times, she just ignored sleep all together.

Riley rolled over and reached into the bag that she had left abandoned on the floor, grabbing the picture that she had put to the side, hoping it would have less of a chance of getting ruined. She held up the photo and smiled. This was the last picture that had been taken of her and her mom; about a month before the accident. Her dad had just come home after King crab season, and they all decided to go to the park, just to walk around and talk. Riley and her mom had been sitting on a park bench while Edgar had gone to get them lemonade at a stand. On his way back, he pulled out the camera and the two of them smiled and waved at him as he captured that perfect moment. This was her favorite picture, and she never went anywhere without it. She ran her fingers over her moms face and smiled. It was times like these that she realized just how much she missed her. Her dad was great, there was no doubt about it, but some things only a mom could do, and Riley didn't exactly have that option anymore.

Riley sighed and placed the photograph back in her bag and sipped it up. She swung her legs over the side of the bed and sat up. She looked around the room. Her dad has been sharing a stateroom with Matt since he first started. All around the room were random pictures. Some taped on the walls, others randomly thrown on the floor or on the bed. She could pick out the ones that were Matt's, they were all of his daughter. Riley had only ever met her once, but from what she could tell, she was very nice. The other pictures were of her dad, most of them of him with his friends. The one in the middle was of him, Sig, and Norman on Sig's wedding day. All three of them were dressed in nice tuxes and the looks on their faces were priceless. She smiled and continued to look through the pictures. But something was confusing her, there weren't any pictures of her mom, and even though she knew he had at least one, there weren't any that she could find of her. She wondered if maybe he had just gotten rid of it since she was now on the boat with him, a permanent photograph. But there was this nagging in the back of her head telling her that he never had one to begin with.

* * *

Edgar finished tying up the last pot, making sure that it was secure, having no way to slide around on the deck, creating a dangerous death trap. "Alright boys, head on in if you want. We'll probably be leaving pretty soon." He announced, heading up the wheelhouse stairs. Walking into the warm house, he glanced around before turning back to Sig.

"Where's Riley?" he asked. Sig pointed to the inside stairs,

"She's down there somewhere doing God knows what." Edgar chuckled,

"You really don't like her bugging you do you?" he said. Sig shrugged,

"She's my niece, I love her, but that girl can talk. There's only so much you can stand on a boat." Edgar nodded. He understood how that went.

"Are we leaving soon? I think the boys are anxious to head out." Sig nodded,

"I just need to finish up this paperwork and then we'll get going." He said. Edgar stretched,

"Alright, I'll let them know." He said, heading down the stairs. In the galley Matt and Jake were sitting at the table, both of them smoking. Norman was at the coffee machine, making sure that the pot was full and they weren't going to run our any time soon. Edgar couldn't see Nick, but he was pretty sure that he was still out on deck, talking to his wife on his cell phone. He glanced back at Matt,

"Was Riley down here when you guys came down?" he asked. Matt shrugged,

"She wasn't in the galley when we came down. She might be in a room though." He suggested. Edgar sighed,

"She's probably in ours." He said, smiling to himself. He quickly walked over and quietly opened the door, peaking in. He smiled when he saw her curled up on his bunk, her head resting on his pillow at the foot of the bed. He walked in and picked up the bag that she had been having trouble with and stuffed it into its place without any problems. He turned back around and bent down, kneeling on his knees. He gently slid off her shoes, placing them next to the bed quietly, trying not to wake her. Riley shifted, curling up even more, making Edgar smile. He bent down and placed a kiss on her forehead, reaching up and moving a piece of her hair out of her face.

"Edgar! Come on! We're leaving!" Matt shouted from the galley. Edgar winced, glancing at Riley, hoping it hadn't woken her up. To his relief, it hadn't. He slowly stood up and walked out the door, closing it slowly so he wouldn't make any noise. He glared over at Matt,

"You need to be less loud." He said. Matt smiled,

"Is the princess sleeping?" he asked.

"As a matter of fact, she is. And I would like to keep it that way. She doesn't know that I know, but she doesn't sleep. I hear her all the time. I don't want to push her into talking to me, so any sleep that she can get, I usually try to prolong." Matt nodded in understanding. He of all people knew what was going on with Edgar and his daughter.

"Well' I'll remember that from now on." He said. Edgar smiled,

"Thanks." He said as he began walking towards the door, Mat following, both of them ready to kick off the beginning of the season.

* * *

Alright so that was chapter one of this new story, I hope you guys liked it! PLEASE REVIEW though! let me know what you guys think! Should I continue?

Thanks a bunch for reading this!!! 3


End file.
